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conn's of tartaraghan

ArmaghTartaraghan (Armagh)

Kia ora from New Zealand.  My ancestor Eliza Conn was married to William Reid McKeown of Clonfeacle in Tartaraghan in 1835.  I thought Eliza was born around 1820 as her death records her as being 78 in 1898.  However I have come across some information in a book "Connecting: The Conn, Cowen, Greenaway Families from county armagh to upper canada" that indicates there was an Eliza born to Thomas Conn in Tartaraghan in 1810.  I would love to connect these two but just don't have enough evidence they are the same.  Would anyone have any idea how to progress?  Are there any old Conn families in the area who I might be able to get in contact with who might have more information?  Thank you.

Charles Walmsley

9 replies

Charles,

You haven’t said what denomination the Conn family was though I suspect Church of Ireland. Tartaraghan’s baptism, marriage & burial records don’t start till 1825. (Prior to 1825 they have either been lost or were never kept). So it’s going to be difficult finding documentary proof of the births and parents, but as you say it’s possible a family might have information on their ancestry.

With regard to ages on death certificates, they are often inaccurate as you probably know. People in Ireland in the 1800s didn’t celebrate birthdays and often didn’t really know how old they were. Many ages, especially for someone in their 70s, were just guesses and could be out by 10 years either way.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for your reply - yes, the Conn family were Church of Ireland. It appears there were a few of the extended family, including an Eliza Conn (at age 18) that got confirmed in Loughgall in 1828 and that this is noted in the Tartaraghan parish records, and from this the 1810 birth date was obtained.  I was starting to suspect they didn't know exactly how old they were, as their shipping records show the children having varying ages that don't match up with later ages either.

Charles Walmsley

Thomas Conn had a sister Ruth conn b1815 d1890 she married Francis Matchett.

nurcopolics@ho…

Thomas Conn had a sister Ruth conn b1815 d1890 she married Francis Matchett.

nurcopolics@ho…

Regarding not knowing your age, Alexander Irvine was born in 1863 in Antrim town and became a Minister living in the US. This extract from his book “The Chimney Corner revisited” perhaps explains why people often had to guess their ages:

“My mother kept a mental record of the twelve births. None of us ever knew, or cared to know, when we were born. When I heard of anybody in the more fortunate class celebrating a birthday I considered it a foolish imitation of the Queen’s birthday, which rankled in our little minds with 25th December or 12th July. In manhood there were times when I had to prove I was born somewhere, somewhen, and then it was that I discovered that I also had a birthday. The clerk of the parish informed me.”

When officialdom asked for an age, or worse still a date of birth, most Irish people just guessed or made one up.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you.  I never realised that was an issue.  Its so different from how we live today.

 

Charles Walmsley

Thank you for your suggestion of the book, "Connecting: The Conn, Cowen, Greenaway Families from county armagh to upper canada". My family is a direct line from Rebecca Greenaway and William Clulow who married in 1820. They are from Tartaraghan   or Portadown. I also have two Conns that married Wright.  One was Anne Eliza Conn who married John Wright in 1868 and an Eliza Conn who married George Wright in 1867.  I have looked for your Eliza but not had any success.  Maybe I can help with some of the other members of the family.

Ann Buchanan

 

AnnBuchanan

Hi Charles,

I have an Eliza Jean Conn, baptised in September 1826 in Newtownhamilton.  Parents are Andrew Conn & Mary Donnelly.

Do you think there is a chance this is connected to your Eliza?

 

Renae

renaeleigh@iin…

Hello All,

(Tried to post and can't post with links.  Improvising below.)

www (dot) familysearch (dot) org/library/books/records/item/523708-connecting-the-conn-cowen-greenaway-families-from-county-armagh-to-upper-canada?offset=

"Connecting : the Conn-Cowen-Greenaway families from County Armagh to Upper Canada" by Conn, Nancy H., 1949-
You can download this book with the link above and it has full permission to be used here.

Also, those not familiar with the Conn surname project, here's a link: www (dot) familytreedna (dot) com/public/conn?iframe=ycolorized

Conn's from Tartaraghan Church and County Armagh seem to be linked to family 6.  I highly recommend taking a 37 marker Y-DNA test and joining the project to confirm.

Hope this helps.  I'm on a quest to figure out my Conn lines history.

-Shane

shane.conn

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